Environment Variables Paths Deleted

[GamingConsoleNerd]

I acquired an old laptop from about 2007 running windows vista. The previous owner was trying to delete everything off of the hard drive and deleted every path listed in environment variables. I cant even open regedit.exe because the system says it cant find the environment option that was entered. How can i fix these paths or maybe reset the os to its original factory conditions? Please help me

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm

If the problem runs deeper than that (ie not fixed or don't know how to replace missing paths) you may be able to run Factory Recovery if the previous owner hasn't zapped the factory backup partition as well.

Process for invoking Factory Recovery depends on the make and model.

 

[GamingConsoleNerd]

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm

If the problem runs deeper than that (ie not fixed or don't know how to replace missing paths) you may be able to run Factory Recovery if the previous owner hasn't zapped the factory backup partition as well.

Process for invoking Factory Recovery depends on the make and model.

When i click on advanced system settings a box pops up that says " Windows cannot find '%windir%\\system32\\systempropertiesadvanced.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again." I have an Acer Aspire 3680 if you can help me factory reset it.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Press "Alt-F10" on boot to access the factory recovery option.

back up your data first.